For a while, it feels normal… sunlight, laughter, muddy shoes on the porch. Remy heads back out with the patrol, and Ryder and Callen leave to do their Alpha duties, checking on their injured and coordinating with the pack.
Parker is so patient with Jaxon. Answering his endless questions… Why does your fur look different from Uncle Callen’s?… Can you sleep as a wolf?… Can I ride on your back?
Parker takes it all with an easy grin, answering what he can, deflecting what he can’t, never once letting Jaxon feel like he’s asking too much.
I’ve noticed that as wolves, my mates barely look at me, and I wonder why that is. I file that away as a question for later, when Jaxon isn’t around.
By the time Remy returns from patrol, and Ryder and Callen make it home, Jaxon is yawning through dinner and asleep almost before his head hits the pillow. I tuck him in, smoothing the hair from his forehead, my chest tightening with love and a hollow ache of fear. If Greg is what Remy thinks… if my ex really is involved with hunters… then Jaxon was never safe.
Neither of us was.
When I get back downstairs, the men are already waiting. The living room feels smaller than usual. Remy’s expression is stern, Ryder’s jaw clenched so tight I can almost hear his teeth grind. Callen sits back, quiet, assessing, while Parker watches me with sharp eyes that miss
Chapter Sa nothing.
I sink into the empty space beside Remy on the couch.
“We need to talk about Paige’s life before she came here,” he says, his voice low but firm. “We have to at least discuss the possibility that the hunters already had their sights on Jaxon and followed him and Paige here.”
There are a few tense moments of silence. Ryder stares at Remy with unmasked fury.
“Any idea who it might be?” Parker asks calmly.
I nod and take a breath. “There’s only one person I can think of… Greg.”
The name drops like a stone. Ryder’s head snaps toward me, and for a moment, there’s only the sound of my pounding heart.
“What about him?” Ryder’s voice is heavy with suspicion.
I swallow, my palms suddenly going clammy. “After the first year, he changed. He became distant, not really interested in our marriage, I guess. He wasn’t great with Jax; he would make comments like he was going to turn out bad, just like his father. I never thought much of it. I thought he was just jealous because I’d not been able to give him the child he wanted.
Now I’m not so sure, especially since he sent a message a few days ago informing me he was going to pursue contact with Jaxon in the divorce.”
“He’s got no f*cking right to my son,” Ryder growls.
“The courts may not see it that way. On paper, he’s been a father figure to Jaxon for most of his life.”
Ryder slams a hand down on the arm of the couch. “F*ck the courts! He won’t get near him.”
“Agreed,” I nod.
“I’m sorry if this is hard to talk about, but we have to know exactly the kind of man we are dealing with… did he ever hurt you?” Parker asks, and I feel all eyes land on me again.
“He wasn’t… violent, but he controlled things. He made me believe I couldn’t manage without him. That I was too fragile, too… broken to stand on my own. At the time, I thought that was just how relationships worked. But now, looking back, it’s clearer now. He chipped away at me until I second-guessed everything,” I admit.
Ryder’s knuckles go white against his knees. “And I wasn’t there. I left you open for someone like that to get his claws into you.”
“Ryder,” I whisper, but he’s already shaking his head.
“No. I should’ve checked on you, I should have protected you both. Instead, I gave him the perfect chance to worm his way into your life.” His eyes are blazing with fury, not at me, but at himself and Greg.
Remy reaches over and squeezes my hand before speaking. “So, at the least, we know Greg was manipulative. Now we need to work out whether he is working with the hunters. What does he do for work?”
“He works for a sporting goods shop,” I shrug.
“What kind of sporting goods?” Callen asks.
“I’m not sure exactly. It’s not your regular sports equipment, it’s specialised stuff, I think. Air rifles, fencing equipment, that kind of stuff.”
“s**t…” Callen curses.
“So he has access to weapons that can be loaded with wolfsbane darts. I’d say that’s enough of a connection on its own,” Ryder says, running a hand through his hair.
“Everything points to him being a hunter to me,” Remy says flatly. “Think about it. He attached himself to Paige right after Ryder was gone, kept her isolated, kept Jaxon under watch. It lines up too well. Hunters monitor bloodlines. They know the signs in kids and teens. If Greg was planted, or even acting alone, then he wasn’t just controlling Paige. He was watching Jax, maybe even grooming him to recruit as one of them.”
Parker swears under his breath. Callen leans forward, looking pale. I feel sick at the thought of Greg grooming Jaxon to use as a weapon against his own kind.
Ryder looks like he’s about to tear the room apart. “You’re telling me I left my mate and son with a hunter?” His voice breaks on the last word, raw with guilt.
“You didn’t know,” I say quickly, reaching for him. “None of us did. I didn’t even realise I was being controlled until now. That’s the point, he made me blind to it. If I hadn’t caught him. cheating, I’d still be there now, none the wiser.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Ryder growls, standing so fast it makes me dizzy. “I should have known. I should have come back. If he’d hurt either of you…”
“Ryder,” Callen cuts in, calm but firm. “Anger won’t change the past, and getting caught up in ‘ what ifs’ won’t help. What matters is what we do now.”
The room goes still.
Parker clears his throat. “If Greg is a hunter, then he’s just lost his biggest asset. He will be desperate to get Jaxon back.”
I feel cold and hollow as the truth weighs heavy on my shoulders. I left Greg thinking I’d finally reclaimed my freedom, only to realise he might never have loved me at all. That I was just… useful. A means to an end.
“We’ll figure it out. They won’t get near Jaxon, not if we keep him deep in the pack until the threat is neutralised,” Remy says, his tone turning lethal.
“When you say neutralised, you mean… killed?” I dare to ask.
Remy looks at me, his eyes hard. “When it comes to hunters, it’s kill or be killed.”
A shudder runs through me. I’m not sure that I can be so at ease with killing people, especially someone I once thought I’d spend the rest of my life with, but then if that’s what has to be done to keep my son safe, then I won’t protest.
Ryder paces like a caged animal. I’m sure his wolf is close to the surface. Callen watches him carefully, ready if his brother snaps. Parker’s gaze shifts back to me, steady and calming.
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